River Music Experience
Introduction
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The River Music Experience (RME) is a non-profits arts center housed in the historic J.H.C. Petersen's Sons' Store building, which was built in 1892. RME was established in 2004 and is dedicated to preserving and promoting the musical heritage of the Quad Cities. To this end, RME offers a wide array of educational programming and opportunities to learn about and play music. It hosts live performances throughout the year as well. As for the building, it is a fine example of commercial "department store" architecture. It was designed in the Romanesque style as a smaller version of the Burnham & Root's Rookery Building in Chicago. In addition to its architecture, the building is significant for once being the flagship store of what is now the Von Maur department store chain.
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Backstory and Context
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Petersen died in 1910 but his sons continued to run it until 1916 when the last son, William, sold it to a competitor, Harned and Von Maur Co. which operated Petersen's as a separate store. This continued until 1928 when the two stores were consolidated into the Petersen-Harned-Von Maur Store. The name was shortened to Von Maur in 1989.
Sources
Bowers, Marty. "J.H.C. Petersen's Sons' Store." Davenport Community Development Department. 1981. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/83002483_text.
Downer, Harry E. "J.H.C. Petersen" in Vol. 2 History of Davenport and Scott County. Chicago, IL: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1910. Retrieved on March 20, 2019 from http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/1910vol2bios7.htm#petersen.